Songs of Ascent
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Title: Going with God Introduction We are in the temple on Zion, in the sacred precincts and the last word that is spoken is blessing. We call this the benediction. Here we have an exhortation to praise the Lord and the blessing of the Lord upon His people. I recall R.C. Sproul discussing the benediction
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Title: Lost Blessings Introduction The returnees from Babylon have reached the end of their journey, Here they gather in the company of the faithful and praise the Lord. In Psalm 55:13 and 14, David is complaining about a supposed friend who betrayed him and he recalls the sweet fellowship of former times in the company
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Title: The Captive Heart Introduction In this longest of the songs of ascent the central theme is God’s covenant of grace. The pilgrim is approaching the city of God, and as he prepares to worship the Lord he pleads with the Lord to remember His faithfulness. The covenant of grace began as soon as Adam
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Title: Humility and Hope Introduction The worshipper has reached his destination and in the presence of God he declares his creaturely submission. This is a very short Psalm to read but a very long Psalm to learn. Having received the mercy of the Lord the psalmist is expressing his appreciation for the greatness of God
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Title: The Penitential Prayer Introduction The previous song dealt with affliction and persecution by the enemies of God. This is one of the great penitential psalms. Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, and 143 are all penitential psalms, but the best known are 32, 51, and 130. Martin Luther called these three Psalmi Paulini, Psalms
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Title: All Our Afflictions Introduction We are in a sense back in Babylon, but as each triad advances over the previous one, this Psalm is filled with hope of deliverance. Still the focus is on the recounting of all the miseries that have been endured, of which, the Babylonian exile is only the latest. First
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Title: A Holy Family Introduction Having left the strange land where they could not sing the Lord’s song, and traveled up to the city of God singing His song with rejoicing, the psalmist now contemplates the settled life that will characterize their move back to their ancestral home. Ask your local teachers why most students
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Title: The Covenant Family Introduction The pilgrims have left the place of weeping and are returning with joy, and now they contemplate the city of God where they will be rebuilding what the Babylonians have destroyed including the walls of Jerusalem and the temple. They are replacing the lost temple of Solomon. Whether this Psalm
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Title: Reaping in Joy Introduction The journey begins again in this Psalm. It begins with joy, but the Psalms are not chronologically arranged and Psalm 137 is a Psalm of the captivity, so listen to the lament in verses 1-4, By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on
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Title: The Lot of the Righteous Introduction In this last Psalm of the present triad we have now arrived in the Holy City. We are rejoicing in the Lord. We began with reverence, then came deliverance and now the theme of this Psalm is providence. We have read the book and discovered that the author
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Title: On Our Side Introduction As the worshipers leave behind the scorn of the world and approach the holy city they are reminded of the way in which the God of Israel has delivered them from their enemies. They are singing because he has enabled them to make this pilgrimage. Dr. Harold S. Laird preaching
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Title: The Song of a Servant Introduction This new triad of Psalms, 123-125 is an advance over the first group, but as with the previous section, it begins with a reflection of what it is like in this sinful world. There follows a contemplation of the Lord, whom they journey to worship, as their helper
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Title: The Compact City Introduction We have seen the departure from the present evil world and the journey up to the city of hope and now, in the third song in this triad, we have arrived at the city. In the early nineteenth century Timothy Dwight was a lonely Christian at Yale University in the
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Title: The Lord My Keeper Introduction In Psalm 120 the psalmist looked around in anguish at a world of dishonesty, savagery and war. In Psalm 121 we have drawn near to Zion and the psalmist looks up to his refuge and help. In each of the five triads of Psalms 120-134 there is progress from
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Title: Flee from Idolatry Introduction In Psalm 120 the writer recognizes his need. Psalm 121 shows the greatness of God, and 122 the recognition that submission to the true God is the only way of peace. In this Psalm, therefore, we see the sad condition of the world. This should remind us not to take
Dr. John P. Clark's Sermons & Writings 